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OT: Did you subscribe? I've often seen articles here that I wanted to look at but, if I recall, the prices were outrageous. Also, I couldn't find a "trial membership" - did you come across one? tia.
Times Online June 07, 2006
Google admits being compromised over China
By Rhys Blakely
Google has admitted for the first time that it compromised its principles when it entered the Chinese market and agreed to toe Beijing’s strict line on censorship.
Speaking in Washington, Sergey Brin, Google’s billionaire co-founder, said the company, which operates under the motto "do no evil", had adopted "a set of rules that we weren’t comfortable with".
In a hint that Google could adjust its stance in China in the future, he added: "Perhaps now the principled approach makes more sense."
Google’s decision to launch its Chinese site, Google.cn, last year met with a barrage of criticism when it emerged that search results for politically sensitive topics such as the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre would be censored.
The pact made between Google and China’s leaders led to the internet company being branded "a megaphone for communist propaganda" at a US Congressional hearing called after the move.
Critics including Reporters Without Borders, the press freedom group, have called China "the world champion" of internet censorship. The country has invested heavily in a sophisticated filtering system, dubbed "The Great Firewall", which allows the authorities to search out dissidents and block their sites.
Mr Brin said: "We felt that perhaps we could compromise our principles but provide ultimately more information for the Chinese and be a more effective service and perhaps make more of a difference."
The lure of the massive Chinese market has also seen Google's arch-rivals Microsoft and Yahoo! dragged into the controversy. In particular, Yahoo! has been condemned for handing over e-mail details that led to several outspoken Chinese bloggers being jailed.
However, it is questionable whether Google could afford to turn its back on China's explosive economy.
Yesterday, Times Online revealed how the company has struggled to compete in businesses outside its core search service. Failures to break into fields such as news and financial information could up the pressure on Google to extend the reach of its search tool – already the world’s most popular – into new territories.
In April, Google rebranded itself as "Gu Ge" - or "Harvesting Song" - in China, a move it said demonstrated its commitment to its controversial entry there. Speaking in Beijing at the time, Eric Schmidt, Google's chief executive, said: "We believe that the decision that we made to follow the law in China was absolutely the right one."
Commenting on the massive growth of the Chinese online advertising, Mr Schmidt said: "I don’t know where [Chinese] revenue growth will be, but it will obviously be large."
The attraction of Chinese cyberspace and its massive pool of potential consumers for America's internet giants has long been clear.
Dr Charles Zhang, the chief executive of Sohu.com, China's largest web portal, said there are at least 150 million Chinese internet users, and there could be as many as 200 million. Those figures would place China neck-and-neck with the US in terms of internet users.
Mr Brin was in Washington to ask US senators to approve a plan that would safeguard "net neutrality" – the current online system which means all internet content is handled equally.
In meetings with Republican John McCain, a member of the Senate committee that oversees telecoms issues, he argued against a system that would allow telephone and cable companies to collect premium fees from companies such as Google, Microsoft and Yahoo! for faster delivery of their services
"The only way to have a fast lane that is useful – that people will pay a premium for – is if there are slow lanes," he said.
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,13132-2215218,00.html
I think for those of us that were convinced Jefferson was the reason for the warrant, this was just more confirmation. For those who believe it is for something other than Jefferson, this article is just one more reporter's "guess" to what is happening as no knew "official" news has been released. jmho
I think that's a great suggestion, who knows what might come of it?
GOOG my only green today! What a pitiful day in the market...
First article I've come across suggesting that China's "non-interference" policy in other countries' politics, may hurt them later.
http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2006/06/12/8379268/
Ok, so you want us to visit the wizard so we can figure out that we really had what we were seeking in the first place?
So "you've been reading this board less" yet "posting more" - uh, ok...
What's your point? You are comparing ERHE to others you've invested in heavily that are $25+ stocks? Agreed there's no comparison, ERHE currently trades at .505, so, again, what's your point? You think it should be trading even lower? Ok, you've sold 90% of your shares, why do you feel the need to post your conviction that this stock is a bad investment for the rest of us? You just trying to save every investor posting on ihub from the "foolish speculation and conjecture published here"?
And, sorry, haven't followed your posts closely enough to know what your continued reference to the "wizard" means.
Amj, I've actually always seen it as a good sign when "new" posters show up to indicate the stock is worthless. (And, we've seen quite a few in the last couple of weeks.) As others have stated, in my experience also, means there's something brewing...
Huh? You sold 90% of your shares in erhe before May 1, yet you signed up for ihub and began posting on this board (and only this board) on May 7?
Special Report: Green light for drug brings hope to Elan
Approval for new blockbuster Tysabri will seal revival of Irish pharma group. By Paul Durman
IN a shabby hotel in a scruffy suburb of Washington DC, Heather Smith brought a packed room full of doctors, healthcare analysts and pharmaceutical executives to the edge of tears.
The 36-year-old from Indiana, a multiple sclerosis sufferer since 1998, was one of more than 40 patients and other witnesses who had come to Gaithersburg to testify before a panel of medical experts about Tysabri, a drug pulled from the market early last year after two people died from a rare brain infection.
Like others there that day in March, Smith requested the chance to make her own judgment about the risks involved in taking the drug. But she was also motivated “by other requests that I hear every day”.
“Requests such as: ‘You dance with me, momma?’ ‘You chase me, momma?’ ‘You carry me, please?’ These requests from my son Ezra, that I cannot fulfil, are the key to my risk-benefit equation.”
Choking back her tears, Smith said that MS had meant she was unable to walk unaided. But “after only one dose I felt that Tysabri was a miracle for me. I was able to make outings on my own. My mobility drastically improved.
“The best reward was that I had more energy to spend with my son. I no longer had to choose between playing with Ezra or taking a shower. I could freely enjoy each moment of his life with a renewed hope.
“I may never be able to carry my son Ezra — or chase him or dance with him — but he deserves a Mom that is as healthy as possible. Each day without Tysabri is a day without hope.”
Smith was given the hope she sought. The advisory committee unanimously voted to recommend the reintroduction of Tysabri. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is expected to ratify its decision any day, possibly as early as this week.
That decision will bring hope, not just to Heather Smith and hundreds of thousands of other MS sufferers, but also to the employees and shareholders of Elan, the Irish drug company that developed the medicine.
The reintroduction of Tysabri, when it comes, will mark the latest upward lurch in a remarkable five-year rollercoaster ride for Elan.
The company nearly went bust, clawed its way back from the brink with the help of Tysabri, but was then thrown to the floor again last year when the product was withdrawn. Can this latest recovery last? Kelly Martin certainly hopes so. Martin, a former investment banker with a liking for woollen sweaters, has nursed Elan through two crises since taking over as chief executive in early 2003. After surviving an attempted boardroom coup last year, he is confidently planning for Elan’s long-term success.
“We have come through a lot of things that most of the world thought we would never get through,” he said. “There’s nothing like multiple near-death experiences to sharpen the focus.
“We want to be one of the leading biopharmaceutical companies in the world in the areas of neurodegeneration (Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease) and auto-immune disease (MS and Crohn’s disease). We want to be the largest European biotech company in the near term.”
Remarkably, after all its travails, Elan is already closing in on this first objective. After the recent run-up in its New York-traded shares, it is valued at $8 billion (£4.2 billion), only a little less than Switzerland’s Serono, another company that grew rich on the success of a multiple-sclerosis drug.
Elan has harboured big ambitions before. It was arguably Ireland’s most successful company in the 1990s, reaching a peak valuation of $25 billion as it raced through more than 20 acquisitions in five years. Along the way it took stakes in 55 biotech firms — effectively outsourcing its research and development to small, joint-venture partners.
But Ireland’s most highly valued company came crashing down — its stock falling from $65 to $1 — when it was realised these opaque joint-venture arrangements flattered profits, and were financed by vast off-balance-sheet borrowings.
Martin, an American banker who was formerly a senior trouble-shooter at Merrill Lynch, set to work to simplify the company and its balance sheet.
Elan’s 5,000 employees were spread across 35 locations, stretching from Athlone in central Ireland to San Diego. Over the course of two years, all 55 joint ventures were sold, and the cash from these and other disposals was used to pay down debt.
All the while, Martin said, Elan remained focused on helping patients with what he believes is truly innovative science. “We continued to invest in our science throughout the restructuring,” he said.
In February 2004 Elan received an unexpected boost. Preliminary results from trials of Tysabri were so “spectacular” that the FDA asked for an accelerated review. This was an indication that the world’s most important health regulator thought the drug could represent an important advance in the treatment of a debilitating disease.
MS is a disease of the central nervous system that affects more than 1m people worldwide. It can progressively cause numbness, loss of balance, disability, blindness and paralysis.
By November the FDA had approved Tysabri for the treatment of MS sufferers. Trial data suggested that the drug, taken by monthly infusion, could reduce the rate of MS relapses (or attacks) by two-thirds. Patients were eager to try the expensive drug, the first new MS treatment for a decade.
“In the first 10 weeks we had 7,000 patients on the drug,” said Martin. “We had 25,000 patients in the queue.”
With a course of treatment costing $23,500 a year, after only 10 weeks Elan and its marketing partner, Biogen, a large American biotech company, were selling a drug that was set to take $700m in its first year. From the pit of financial turmoil, Elan’s shares quadrupled during 2004.
Then, last February, disaster struck again. “It was a Friday,” Martin said. “I had just got off a plane.” The chief executive of Biogen called with news that two patients, who had been taking Tysabri in combination with Biogen’s Avonex, had died of a rare brain infection called PML — progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy.”
PML was so rare that even many neurologists had no experience of it. “We had spent thousands of hours talking about the risk of opportunistic infections,” said Martin. “In all these discussions, PML had never come up once.”
Elan and Biogen were soon in constant dialogue with the FDA, trying to decide how best to protect patients. “We did not know why PML occurred,” said Martin. “We did not know whether (the problem was) the combination of drugs. We could not rely on neurologists because very few of them had the intelligence to be our front line of defence.”
After three days of intense discussions, Elan and Biogen pulled the drug. “We needed to protect the patients and we needed to protect the drug, because the drug was spectacular,” said Martin. Elan’s shares slumped sickeningly once more.
“The stock dropped from $27 to $3, which is an experience,” said Martin, drily. Employees who had seen their savings in Elan shares destroyed by the earlier accounting crisis were once again confronted by the loss of their dreams.
Despite the doubts of investors, Martin was sure from the outset that Tysabri could be saved. “I was confident that it would be made available again because of the efficacy of the drug and because patients were declining,” he said.
“If you know someone with MS and they’re declining, there’s nothing they can do. They’re going to have a cane, and go into a wheelchair, and eventually they stop breathing.”
Allison Hulme, head of the Tysabri business, and Ted Yednock, head of global research, set to work to understand what had gone wrong.
Independent experts reviewed the data from nearly every one of the 3,000 patients who had taken Tysabri in clinical trials — MS patients, rheumatoid arthritis patients and Crohn’s disease patients.
Over the course of four months, these patients were given MRI scans, physical examinations and lumbar punctures. To Martin’s relief, there were no other PML cases beyond the first three identified in February and March.
And Tysabri alone has not been shown to cause PML. It appears the infection was caused by an interaction with Avonex.
Based on the trial data, researchers estimate the risk of MS patients on Tysabri contracting PML is one in a 1,000 — small but real. It is this risk that Heather Smith and the other patients who spoke up for Tysabri are prepared to run in the hope of securing a better quality of life.
With its case strengthened by two-year trial data, Elan filed for approval for Tysabri once more, this time as a monotherapy. “The two-year data were better,” said Martin. Tysabri was shown to reduce the number of brain lesions caused by MS and, in many cases, to slow the disease’s progress.
“The data make it a better drug,” said Martin. “Our decision of last February which was very difficult to make is, at the end of the day, going to position Tysabri correctly from a patient-choice point of view and correctly from the long-term business point of view.”
When Tysabri returns to the market — a European approval is expected to follow shortly after the American go-ahead — new patient monitoring and other safety controls will be introduced to limit the risk of PML. The drug will also be restricted to patients with the relapsing form of MS, and not given to those with compromised immune systems.
Although this means the likely patient population shrinks, from 1m to perhaps 600,000, by the strange logic of the pharmaceutical industry, Elan could make just as much money as before.
The price of Serono’s Rebif has increased substantially over the past couple of years, and Elan hopes Tysabri will command a significant premium.
Analysts, such as Goodbody Stockbrokers, forecast peak sales of nearly $2 billion a year. This ignores the possible use of the drug in Crohn’s disease.
Ian Hunter, analyst at Goodbody, is cautious about early sales of Tysabri. Many patients will be wary after last year’s problems, and will wait to see whether there are any more cases of PML. Hunter said it was therefore unlikely Tysabri would see the explosive take-off it enjoyed in late 2004. Hunter said that if Tysabri proved to be safe when prescribed more widely, demand for the drug would quickly accelerate.
Such a blockbuster success would transform the company that developed Tysabri, but Martin said this medicine was only “the start of the Elan story.
“We think our science platform is truly unique,” he said. “We believe we can use that to have an impact on millions of patients around the world.
“If we can execute (our plans), the value of the company will take care of itself.”
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2095-2209608,00.html
LOL!
OT: Congrats on ELN, you must be doing well!
The one thing that strikes me is that every article I've seen is headlined something like "Chevron's Well Hits Oil". That says reporters in the industry are reading the pr positively. I have yet to come across one that says "Chevron Drilling is Disappointment". FWIW
2MAR$ - This looks like it's going to be a great board.
I've just started following the oil industry and, wow, it's a tough one to get a handle on if you have no experience (like me).
I've done quite a bit of dd on ERHE. It's a small firm out of Houston that has rights to % of blocks in the Joint Development Zone (JDZ) off the coast of Nigeria and Sao Tome. They've recently signed agreements with Sinopec and Addax and have full carry to oil. Chevron operates Block 1 and have just released a very quite confirmation that in the first well that's been drilled, they've found gas and oil. (See previous post of mine.) There's some controversy surrounding the company - one reporter (Ken Silverstein) believes that ERHE has single handedly brought Sao Tome (a third world country) to their knees because of the deals struck years ago. Bottom line, though, is oil has been found in the JDZ and ERHE is sitting on it.
Another company, I really like in this sector is RIG. Transocean is pr'ing contract after contract and have been upgrade by lots of analysts recently. Credit Suisse has upgraded their outperform price to $106. This one is a little expensive for me, so I've mostly been trading options on it.
Anyway, good luck on the new board and have a great Memorial Day weekend!
Thanks for link.
May 26, 2006 13:44:32 (ET)
(Updates with further background)
By Tom Ashby
LAGOS, May 26 (Reuters) - The first well to be drilled in an offshore area shared by Nigeria and Sao Tome has found oil and gas, but it is premature to say if the discovery is commercially viable, U.S. energy giant Chevron (CVX,Trade) said on Friday.
Any commercial find in the area would be momentous for Sao Tome and Principe -- an impoverished island nation in the Gulf of Guinea which lives mostly from fishing -- and a big relief for an industry which has bet hundreds of millions of dollars on the concessions.
"It is oil and gas. It's good, but it's a new region. We have data and we have to look at it," a Chevron spokesman said.
The California-based company took two months to complete the Obo-1 well, which lies under 1,720 metres of water in the formerly disputed border zone, and found at least 150 feet (45 m) of hydrocarbons in several reservoirs, it said in a statement.
"It is premature to determine whether or not Chevron and its co-venturers have made a commercial discovery," the statement said.
The well also provided samples of rock and liquids which must be examined to determine how the company will proceed with the appraisal of the reservoir. Oil companies normally drill several wells in a new reservoir before declaring it fully commercial.
Chevron holds 51 percent of the contract in block 1 of the Nigeria/Sao Tome Joint Development Zone where this well was drilled, while ExxonMobil (XOM,Trade) has 40 percent and a local partner Dangote Energy Equity Resources has the rest.
The announcement will be welcome news for other companies that paid millions of dollars for rights to drill in nearby areas, including ERHC ((ERHE.OB)), Addax ((AXC.TO)), Sinopec (SNP,Trade)((0386.HK)) and Anadarko (APC,Trade).
The award of drilling licences in the joint zone has been plagued by delays and accusations of corruption, while expectations of an oil windfall have felled political instability in Sao Tome.
Under the treaty governing the joint area, Nigeria gets 60 percent of the revenues from oil production while Sao Tome gets 40 percent. But the countries only start to benefit after the companies have recouped their investment, which is likely to be in billions of dollars if oil is found in commercial quantities
http://yahoo.reuters.com/stocks/quotecompanynewsarticle.aspx?storyId=urn:newsml:reuters.com:20060526...
Thanks but neither Ruby's or namyoubeht's post had link.
Anyone with link to reuters article where erhe is mentioned? I was going to post on the new Oil Energy Thread here on ihub. I've tried searching reuters and googling, can't find anything. Thanks in advance.
You were right this morning! Good call!
"3 RAY WEEKEND COMMING UP"
Hope I catch one of those rays this weekend.
Imo, the best place to get the most accurate information is from Transocean. They update their fleet locations (it seems) once a month. Here's link:
http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=113031&p=irol-reportsOther
Nigeria : Oil, gas policy in jeopardy?
May 26, 2006, 3 hours, 49 minutes and 12 seconds ago.
By Andnetwork .com
Nigeria's federal government has warned that should the Federal High Court, Lagos, grant the reliefs being sought by South Atlantic Petroleum Limited (SAPE-TRO), over its relinquished oil prospecting licence (OPL) 246, the country’s oil and gas policy would be put in jeopardy.
According to the government, about 10 blocks, relinquished by previous holders were among the ones made available for the 2006 mini bid round held in May 19.
The relinquished OPLs, government argued, were re-labeled and auctioned during the May 19 mini bid, after it (government) refused requests by their previous holders to convert the unconverted portion of the OPLs into additional oil mining lease (OML).
The government, therefore, warned against what it called the "catastrophic consequences" that would ensue, should the application brought before the Federal High Court, Lagos by SAPETRO, an indigenous company owned by former defence minister, Theophilus Danjuma succeeds.
It also cautioned that in the event the court grants Danjuma's reliefs, "it would literally put the federal government of Nigeria's oil and gas policy and administration into turmoil and open a floodgate of potential claims from previous OPL holders who, based upon the SAPETRO example, might be tempted to ask for a return to them of the unconverted portions of their previous OPLs", noting that it would portend a great danger for the government policy and administration of the nation's oil and gas resources.
The government, which made these disclosures in its second affidavit, filed by its lead counsel, Professor Fidelis Odita, SAN (QC), stated that in accordance with international petroleum industry practice, the residue of OPL 246 has retained its identification number "246" largely for reasons of convenience because of the petroleum information and data already associated with that number.
The government, respondent in the matter, has exhibited what it called a paginated clip of documents to buttress its position in the matter.
The documents
The documents include summary results of the just concluded mini - bid conference, which showed that 10 of the OPLs on that schedule 9 - 18 were OPLs relinquished following conversion of the previous OPLs into OML.
"It is apparent from the schedule that OPLs numbered 1 - 3, and 5 - 8 have retained their previous labels, while the OPLs numbered 9 - 18, without a single exception have all been re-labeled.
The government made reference to pages two to five of a letter dated October 7, 2004 written by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to the director of department of petroleum resources (DPR), and stated that the letter set out government's policy regarding OML conversions and commented upon a number of OPLs in respect of which the holders wanted second OMLs.
The said letter, according to the government's affidavit, listed the OPLs to include; 209, 211, 212, 213, 217, 218, 219 and 220, all of which it said, were relinquished by previous holders, re-labeled and made available for the last Friday mini - bid round.
While noting that the NNPC letter made it clear that the FGN's policy is that only one OML should be issued from an OPL, it pointed out that OPL 216 was granted to Famfa Oil Limited, an indigenous oil company similar to SAMPETRO, but that the company's application on March 28, 2003, for two OMLs was refused and that the relinquished unconverted portion of what was previously OPL 216 was OPL 291 and was auctioned during the mini- bid.
The previous OPL 209 held by Esso, now part of ExxonMobil Group, re-labeled OPL 279 was won by ONGC-Mittal in the mini- bid round, the affidavit said, while the relinquished OPL 217, previously held by Statoil was re-labeled and sold to INC Natural Resources in the said mini- bid conference.
But lead counsel for SAPETRO, Charles Candide-Johnson, SAN, while addressing the court on Thursday, submitted that the government's second affidavit as well as the documents attached to it, were misleading, adding that the production sharing contract relied upon by the respondent, is different from that which is applicable to OPL.
He described as intimidating the averrement by the Government that the success of the SAPETRO's application would affect FG's oil and gas policy, and maintained that his client is not concerned with additional OML, but the remnant of its OPL 246.
He submitted that the affidavit of the government started with misdirection and ended with intimidation, contained no material facts.
The counsel further argued that the issue is not the minister's discretion, but whether any law compulsorily revokes the balance of an OPL.
He therefore urged the court to restrain the relinquishment of SAPETRO's OPL 246, maintaining that his client's OPL 246 will only expire in March 2008.
Meanwhile, the government counsel disagreed with the allegation of intimidation by Candide-Johnson and submitted that the government, by the said averrement, only wanted to make known the impact which the court's position in the matter could have on government’s oil and gas policy.
The counsel will however open his argument in the matter at the next adjourned date, June 5.
SAPETRO, had in the suit, prayed the court to among others; declare that by virtue of Petroleum Act 1968 and all subsidiary legislation thereunder including OPL (conversion to oil mining, leases, etc) regulations 2004, its rights and interest in OPL 246 remained extant for its express tenure (until March 2008) notwithstanding the grant of OML 130 out of the area of OPL 246.
South Atlantic also sought a declaration that the decision of the minister in two letters in March 2006 asserting the "mandatory" relinquishment or forfeiture of OPL 246 without its consent is "perverse, arbitrary, capricious irrational and unreasonable, a unilateral and unlawful confiscation of the rights and interest granted to the applicant under OPL 246, is wrongful and exceeds the power granted to the minister of petroleum resources" under existing legislation.
The applicant company also sought an order of injunction restraining the "respondent by imself, his agent, privies, delegates or howsoever otherwise from doing any acts or omitting to do any acts in a manner that is inconsistent with the Applicant's right and/or legitimate expectation to a grant of an additional OML from the remaining area of OPL 246".
By Chika Amanze-Nwachuku, ThisDay
http://www.andnetwork.com/index?service=direct/0/Africa/$StorySummary$3.titleStory&sp=l36209
LFG, they just pr'd Uge-1 on 5/17 so maybe they're trying to space them for best impact.
I think (hope) that we see a pr and website update from ERHE on the day CVX makes any announcement that ties us to the news.
(edit: To be more clear, a pr from ERHE that says something referring to CVX find in block right next to ours.)
LFG, I was actually thinking the opposite.
I think if CVX is forced, they are at least going to want to get the "bang for their buck". With the 3 day weekend and the Enron coverage, I think they'll wait until next week. But, hey, wdik?
Actually, we're probably both wrong and we won't see anything for a couple of weeks or is that a fortnight?...:)
Article with more on race between US and China in securing African oil - interestingly, it says that China isn't fond of the new relationship between US and Libya.
PanAfrica: 'Win-Win' Deals in Africa Lose On Rights Issues
ANALYSIS
May 25, 2006
Posted to the web May 25, 2006
Antoaneta Bezlova
Beijing
China is becoming a force to reckon with on the African continent. The world's most populous country is busy building railways and roads in Angola, Nigeria and Kenya, revving up trade volumes with South Africa and Zambia and, most of all, guzzling up the continent's rich reserves of oil and minerals.
Increasingly too, Beijing is courting resource-rich countries, like Sudan and Zimbabwe, that have been marginalised in recent years by the West, and forging partnerships on the strength of its non-interfering foreign policy.
China has refused to link its development aid and investment programme in Africa to demands for improved human rights and democracy, as advocated by the West.
That countering the United States' geopolitical clout in Africa is at the heart of Beijing's efforts, may be gleaned from the fact that recent news of resumption of diplomatic relations between Libya and the U.S. created unease among Chinese commentators..
The two countries have not had full ties for more than 25 years, but relations significantly improved after Libya decided in December 2003 to give up its nuclear weapons programme. Last week, the Bush administration announced it would open an embassy in Tripoli and drop Libya from its list of nations that sponsor terrorism..
U.S. officials were frank in expressing their hopes that the move will encourage Libya to further open its underdeveloped oil industry, which is potentially one of the world's largest. Libya's oil reserves are reported to rank among the top ten worldwide.
Nervousness about this step forward for the U.S. in the oil-rich country was palpable in some of the opinions published in the Chinese press.
One of Beijing's dailies, the Xinjingbao, ran a signed opinion on May 21 portraying Libya's leader Muammar Qaddafi as a former "strong man" who in the past dared say "no" to the West, before noting that his "petroleum nationalism of early years has now been replaced by a mere pragmatism".
"Obviously, Qaddafi wants to use his country's wealth of oil to win the full recognition of the West and be accepted as part of its energy security framework," author Ai Cao said.
The official China Daily saw U.S.-Libya rapprochement as a potential impediment to China's own aggressive push to expand its influence in Africa.
Yuan Peng, a researcher with the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations, argued that after years of neglect of this "strategic vacuum area", Washington has come to realise the importance of a fresh start with Africa.
"Both security interests and oil interests (in the restoration of U.S.-Libyan diplomatic ties) are at the service of a grander strategic goal -- overhauling the U.S. African strategy," Yuan wrote in the China Daily.
"Will a chain reaction in African-U.S. relations be triggered off by the U.S. increasing strategic input in the continent? This is a subject worth closely watching and following," he concluded.
The U.S.-Libyan rapprochement comes at a time when Beijing's clout in Africa is rising.
A foray of recent visits to Africa by Chinese President Hu Jintao and foreign minister Li Zhaoxing were aimed at reinforcing perceptions of China as a non-western and non-colonial emerging superpower, eager to expand its scope of influence by generous packages of aid, ample economic contracts and commitment to diplomatic neutrality.
Diplomacy has been backed by a steady wave of investment in rebuilding and expanding infrastructure in the impoverished continent.
On Monday, China pledged a loan of one billion US dollars to oil-rich Nigeria to help it repair its dilapidated railway system. Last week saw another infrastructure deal clinched between China and Algeria, also an important African oil producer. China's Citic Group and China Railway Construction Group fended off rival tenders from European and U.S. firms to build almost half of Algeria's 1,216km East-West highway.
Last year China offered Angola a two billion dollar soft infrastructure loan in order to win a contract to develop an offshore oilfield, which India was also bidding for. In addition to bilateral donations, Beijing has also pledged 100 million dollars to the Asian Development Fund and the Africa Development Fund.
Beijing has termed its double-pronged strategy of winning political friends and securing long-term supplies of natural resources on the continent as the new 'win-win' concept of partnership with Africa.
"China plans to establish and develop a 'new type of strategic partnership with Africa characterised by equality and mutual trust on the political front, cooperation conducted on the basis of 'win-win' economics with reinforced cultural exchanges," said a document released in the Malian capital, Bamako in January, at the end of Li Zhaoxing's visit there.
Since 2000, Chinese trade with Africa has nearly quadrupled, reaching 39.7 billion dollars in 2005. More than 600 Chinese companies have gained a foothold on the continent. In addition, Beijing has signed more than 30 oil agreements with various African petroleum producing countries.
Nevertheless, China believes the time to establish its presence firmly in the continent is limited. Chinese experts predict the next five to eight years will be a golden time for Chinese companies to invest in Africa.
"Africa has become a new focus for global investors, and Chinese companies will be presented with huge business opportunities if they enter the market early," Chi Changsheng, an expert with the National Development and Research Commission, China's top planning body, told a forum on Chinese investment in Africa, which opened in the capital this week.
But Beijing's quest to secure energy supplies and diplomatic support has also led it into partnerships with some unsavoury African governments. Sudan, whose regime has been accused of genocide in the Darfur region, is currently China's largest overseas production base. Zimbabwe, long criticised by the West for its human rights record, is another trade and military ally of China.
Touring Morocco, Nigeria and Kenya, last month, Chinese President Hu Jintao repeatedly emphasised that China would adhere to its long-standing non-interventionist policy in dealing with other countries. "We respect the political model chosen by the African people," he was quoted as saying in Nairobi.
http://allafrica.com/stories/200605250181.html
I can't take credit, it was Max.
Btw, I love Ihub! I know it's not perfect but in my opinion, the administrators do their best to find and expose this kind thing.
Posted by: sllabxam
In reply to: None Date:5/26/2006 1:57:12 AM
Post #of 55497
I took a peek behind bars and saw the number 79424 written on the wall. I think that about proofs it. max
IMO, that one deserves a post here.
Posted by: IH Admin [Matt]
In reply to: Meridian who wrote msg# 79320 Date:5/25/2006 11:02:19 PM
Post #of 79426
Meridian - any reason for the new account?
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/profile.asp?User=73184
I thought you were done with iHub.
OT: Alright, I've had it with journalists today...look at this from msnbc.com
"When the courtroom emptied of jurors, most reporters and the judge, Lay stood close to the bench, receiving condolences from friends and family. He spent minutes that seemed like years holding hands with his wife and talking quietly with her."
WHAT?!?!! It seemed like "years" to the reporter who had a story to file or what?!?!
"Guess who's going to bring it to light if it does come?"
I'm "guessing" you mean Silverstein, but want to make sure I haven't missed anything. Correct?
The argument that we didn't get enough from SNP reminds me of the argument that STP didn't get enough from ERHE.
Elan CEO sees 'headroom' to raise Tysabri's price
E-mail | Print | | Disable live quotes Last Update: 9:01 AM ET May 25, 2006
DUBLIN (MarketWatch) -- Elan Corp. PLC's (ELN) Chief Executive Kelly Martin said Thursday there is future "headroom" to raise the price of multiple sclerosis drug Tysabri after its anticipated return to the market in the U.S.
The U.S. Food & Drug Administration will make a final decision on Tysabri's re-entry by June 28, and most analysts see it back on the market in the U.S. in the third quarter of 2006.
"Clearly there's headroom and a business legitimacy for one to raise the price," Martin told a press briefing after the company's annual general meeting, adding the issue will be discussed with Elan's Tysabri partner Biogen Idec Inc. (BIIB).
Martin said: "We would need to see the final labeling and risk management dynamic before making any decisions on price." These details are currently being finalized by Elan and Biogen with the FDA, he added.
When the two companies temporarily suspended sales of the drug in the U.S. last year on safety concerns, patients were being charged $23,500 for 13 infusions a year, or 1 every 4 weeks.
Elan has repeatedly said it expects Tysabri to be reintroduced to the market and the MS drug could break even with around 20,000 patients, though the company expects to surpass this figure easily.
Martin said there are over 2.5 million MS sufferers worldwide and, although he wouldn't be drawn on specific figures, he said that Tysabri will play a "very substantial role" in the existing global market.
"We haven't predicted that (the market share) yet," he said, "but 70% of MS patients are declining clinically. When new products are introduced to an existing market, volatility increases and people tend to use the new technology."
Martin said it would be "premature" to make more accurate predictions, but added the company would be in a better position to make forecasts when Tysabri has been back on the U.S. market for at least two months.
He reiterated Tysabri's 68% reduction in MS relapses, compared with 30% for existing therapies and said this is the kind of data that will be highlighted in relation to labeling Tysabri in E.U. countries when the time comes.
The European Medicines Agency's advisory committee has recommended Tysabri be used in the E.U. only as a treatment for relapsing multiple sclerosis patients; the agency's decision is due sometime this summer.
And the U.S. Food & Drug Administration's advisory committee has advised that Tysabri be reintroduced as a monotherapy in the U.S., a first-line treatment for all MS sufferers.
Elan and partner Biogen Idec Inc. (BIIB) suspended their would-be blockbuster drug in the U.S. on February 28 last year after three patients on combination therapy - including Tysabri -contracted a rare neurological disease called PML.
Company Web site: http://www.elan.com
http://www.marketwatch.com/News/Story/Story.aspx?dist=newsfinder&siteid=google&guid=%7BFA652...
Received this response, my reply below: (Thanks, Walldog, for the little ditty.)
Ms. xxxx,
I forward the following response from Mr. Silverstein.
Best wishes,
Paul Ford
To all shareholders in EHRC writing about the article:
It's good to know that the report by the attorney general was repudiated by the governments of Sao Tome and Nigeria, although that's not surprising given that officials from both would be implicated in the wrongdoing suggested by the report. I guess the U.S. District Court of the Southern District of Texas somehow hadn't heard that the governments had rejected the report, otherwise it surely wouldn't have issued those search warrants for ERHC's documents. Good luck with your social investing--it's nice to know that some people care more about alleviating poverty in Sao Tome than they do about making a buck.
Regards,
Ken Silverstein
Dear Mr. Ford,
My disappointment continues. What a thoroughly insulting, unprofessional response and I have to assume you are in support of this type of correspondence from one of your editors.
What evidence has Mr. Silverstein uncovered that indicates the search of the ERHC offices was in response to the discredited report submitted by the Sao Tome district attorney? How does he know who or what is being investigated based on the 8k filed by ERHC? (As this is the only public information available regarding this warrant.) The fact is he doesn't and to suggest otherwise is entirely irresponsible journalism.
This reminds me of something I heard the other day:
"About the desert. In the desert there are no thick forests, and it doesn't rain very much. Then I realized that, where there were really thick forests, there was a lot of rainfall. So I concluded from this observation, that trees attract rain."
This is the same type of conclusion Mr. Silverstein is drawing.
Again, Mr. Silverstein has shown his disdain for integrity in reporting facts and chosen to present the position that most satisfies his need for vindication.
Sincerely,
xxx
This is email I sent to Ford at Harper's. (Btw, Art, thanks for email address.)
Dear Mr. Ford,
I was very disappointed in the journalistic integrity displayed by your Washington editor, Ken Silverstein, in his recent commentary titled Paved with Good Intentions. There are references to events that have been refuted by the governements of Nigeria and Sao Tome, however, Mr. Silverstein chooses to ignore this and make suppositions that have no basis in fact, simply to satisfy a personal agenda (according to his own words).
Below are statements made by Mr. Silverstein and public information that clearly undermines his position.
I understand a commentary is a statement of one’s opinion. However, when basing one’s opinion on unsupported, inaccurate or incomplete facts, it makes for a very uneducated, unrealistic opinion and not worthy of being published by Harper’s Magazine.
Sincerely,
XXXX
“One oil expert I talked to at the time said ERHC's agreement amounted to “a raid on São Tomé's future national treasury.’” “do a new story that follows up on how ERHC finagled its way into such a sweet deal in São Tomé.”
“Controversy has swirled ever since speculators raised the subject of oil. In 1997, a little-known Houston company called Environmental Remediation Holding Corp. promised to pay $5 million for drilling rights. Although a tiny sum for an oil contract, it was a large amount for Sao Tome, whose total annual export earnings were then only $4 million.”
http://www.journalismfellowships.org/stories/saotome/saotome_riches.htm
“The search was apparently in response to a request for an investigation submitted by São Tomé's current Attorney General to the SEC and the Justice Department.”
2. Rising from its 11th meeting in Abuja on 8th February,
2006, the JMC had amongst other things, considered
technical and administrative issues crucial to the
development of the JDZ and resolved as follows:
a) Report of Investigation on JDZ Second Bid Round
Conducted by an American-Based NGO (International
Senior Practising Lawyers) at the Instance of the
Attorney General of Sao Tome and Principe:
Council rejected the report in its entirety and expressed
strong displeasure at the insinuations of impropriety
leveled against Nigeria and Nigerian Government
officials in the report.
Elan still aims for June Tysabri deadline
May 25, 2006 11:35
Elan said today that it was still aiming for clarity on the future of its multiple sclerosis drug Tysabri by the end of June.
Speaking at the group's AGM in Dublin today, Elan's CEO Kelly Martin said he hoped that the group would have more of an idea of the drug's future prospects by June 28.
Sales of Tysabri were suspended in February 2005 after three patients developed an infection, which led to two deaths.
Elan has said it hoped to receive regulatory approval next month and start relaunching the drug in the third quarter of the year.
Shares in the company were up seven cent to €13.50 in Dublin this morning.
Mrogop, that's amazing information isn't it? This is the first time I've come across an analysis like this in such easily understandable terms.
I saw the CEO of Shell (can't remember his name) on the Today show with Katie Couric interviewing him. She asked about the high cost of gas and Shell's profits. He replied in a couple of sentences that the only way to cut the cost was to reduce usage. He then went on to say that Shell is going on a roadshow to educate the consumers. I really didn't understand his point or how badly misinformed the public (myself included) was until I read this article.
Part of this commentary has good information on "refining economics" (for those-like me- with little knowledge of oil industry).
ExxonMobil's $400 Million Insult
Former ExxonMobil chief Lee Raymond recently left with a $400 million golden parachute. During his 12-year stint at Exxon's helm, the value of the stock quadrupled, and it is now the most valuable company in America. But how much of that can be attributed to one person? And how much of your $3-a-gallon gas goes to such compensation packages? Why shouldn't we consider such compensation to be utterly obscene?
By Glen Kenney
May 24, 2006
I work in the oil industry, but -- due solely to my management's inability to recognize true genius -- I'm not the Chairman or CEO. I'm stuck at supervisor level. In this capacity, I certainly do not make corporate-level decisions, but I'm just high enough in the food chain to be privy to a lot of internal data, including most economics. Because of this knowledge, the little purple vein in my forehead starts throbbing every time I read or hear about the rich greedy oil companies gouging consumers. My wife won't let me watch Bill O'Reilly anymore, for fear I'll throw something through the TV when he gets up on the wrong side of his economic soapbox.
To answer the above questions, Lee Raymond is guilty of taking more money than is politically correct in light of today's fuel prices, but he is innocent of any wrongdoing, and his bonus didn't increase my fuel costs. I'll expound on that toward the end, but first, let's discuss refining economics.
Crude calculus
Right now, oil companies truly are making a lot of money. Refining margins are way up, and virtually all refineries are running at maximum capacity. During times like these, refineries make a lot of money simply because of the volume. Let me give a short review of today's margins.
A 42-gallon barrel of crude oil is $75 on the futures market (at the time of writing). That's a cost of $1.78 per gallon of raw crude oil. The refinery's distillation process separates the oil into the various raw cuts, from gaseous fuels, to naphthas, to jet fuel, to diesel, and then the heavy bottom of the barrel. All these various products are then pumped to other downstream units for further processing and upgrading -- and to make the products environmentally acceptable, including removing sulfur. All these processes also use tremendous amounts of energy, materials, and labor. I'm still amazed when I consider our annual operating budget.
So far, we've bought crude for $75 per barrel and processed it in our refinery. Now, lets see what products and how much money we'll get from this barrel. The column "Value, $/gal." is the actual wholesale price for gasoline and diesel on the market today. I'm using estimates for the value of the fuel, sulfur, and asphalts.
Product in barrel
% of crude
Value, $/gal.
Value, $/bbl
Total
Value, $
Fuel gas, sulfur
4%
$0.50
$21
$0.84
Gasoline blends
55%
$2.33
$97.86
$53.82
Diesel, jet fuels
25%
$2.18
$86.10
$21.52
Six oil, asphalts
16%
$0.75
$31.50
$5.04
Total value
$81.22
Gross profit, $81.22 - $75 = $6.22/barrel or $0.15/gallon
In the industry, this is expressed at the "topping margin," or the value of the products minus the cost of the raw material. From this you must deduct the cost of doing business. Energy costs alone are nearing $2 per barrel. The enormously expensive catalyst costs, capital expenditures, labor, etc., quickly cut the net value. As of today, the "high profit margins" in the industry allow for the obscene net profits of about $2 per barrel, or about $0.05 per gallon. That's a net profit margin of less than 3%.
I showed that the wholesale price of gasoline at the refinery is $2.33. Then why is gasoline at the pump $2.99, or $0.66 more? The largest beneficiary of gasoline sales is the federal government. Federal gasoline taxes are $0.184 per gallon, while state and local taxes increase the average total tax bill to about $0.46 per gallon. Let's compare. The oil refiner, after all their huge investments, gets $0.05 per gallon, while the government, with no investment or risk, gets $0.46 per gallon. Darn those greedy oil companies.
OK, with taxes, the gasoline now costs $2.79 per gallon when the distributor fills its tanker trucks at the refinery. The trucking company has to charge a few cents per gallon for delivery charges to the station. The station operator, even the brand-name operators who lease the right to use major brand names at their stations, will pay approximately $2.82 per gallon for the gas that they will sell for $2.99 per gallon. The station owner then hopes he can stop the "drive-off thieves." One drive-off destroys the profits from more than 400 gallons of sales.
So how do oil companies like ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM), BP (NYSE: BP), ConocoPhilips (NYSE:COP), and Chevron (NYSE: CVX) make so much money? The big numbers in the profit side come from the big numbers on the sales side. The refinery at which I work is small by ExxonMobil standards, yet we process about 80 million barrels of crude oil annually. Even at a nickel per gallon net profit, we're talking pretty good money by the year's end. Remember, we do need to keep the shareholders happy.
That's why my blood pressure rises when Bill O'Reilly and others say the oil companies should cut their profits in half to help reduce gasoline prices at the pump. If only people would understand that cutting the profit in half would cut their fuel costs by 2 or 3 cents per gallon.
If we want to reduce the price of gasoline, we need to quit using so much of it. It's a simple case of supply and demand. When we use less, OPEC can't sell as much, so they drop their prices. Now, if you really want to get serious about reducing consumption, let's build nuclear power plants. No greenhouse gasses. Zip. Nada. The sole negative is the highly radioactive spent fuel, but that's another topic.
Back to Raymond
Exxon did increase its profits fourfold during Raymond's tenure, and he did make the right call in acquiring Mobil at depressed prices, making the newly formed ExxonMobil the world's richest company. Some of this good was due to Lee Raymond's guidance, for which he should be recognized, and some of it was merely the luck of market conditions that would have happened had Donald Duck been CEO.
The ExxonMobil board of directors gave Raymond a retirement package worth at least $400,000,000. That's a lot of zeroes. That's probably more than the combined retirement packages of all the employees where I work. Do I personally think he, or anybody else, deserves that kind of money? No! NO! A thousand times NO! Is he worth that much money? Yes. The bottom line is this: Whether it's a CEO's pay or an athlete's, it's a free market. The person is worth whatever somebody is willing to pay for his or her services.
Did his huge paycheck increase the price I pay for gas? NO again! I saw in Exxon's annual report that they have a total refining capacity of 6.2 million barrels per day. At that rate, Raymond's retirement package cost less than half a cent per gallon, if it were paid for in just one year.
Now, even though I don't believe it cost me anything, his retirement package was a slap in the face and an insult to all us working stiffs out here. I feel the same way about the athletes who sign the $250,000,000 packages, or who get the $50,000,000 endorsement checks. (But perhaps if I could hit a baseball 500 feet 70 times a year, I'd change my mind.) I'd like to see the ExxonMobil stockholders send a strong message to their board of directors, declaring they won't support any more insults like the Lee Raymond incident.
http://www.fool.com/news/commentary/2006/commentary06052404.htm
New Drug Therapies Look Promising for Bowel Diseases
05.23.06, 12:00 AM ET
TUESDAY, May 23 (HealthDay News) -- For bowel disorders such as Crohn's disease and irritable bowel syndrome, long-term treatments with new compounds look promising, researchers report.
And, for those with moderate to severe Crohn's disease, which often does not respond to conventional treatment, the new biologic therapies, which target the specific cause of the inflammation causing the disease instead of suppressing the entire immune system as traditional medications do, also look good, experts said.
The experts shared their assessments Monday at the annual Digestive Disease Week meeting, in Los Angeles.
More than one million people in the United States have inflammatory bowel diseases, said Dr. Maria Abreu, director of the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City, who chaired the panel.
While all the treatments are "tremendously important," adalimumab (Humira), a medicine already approved for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis and psoriatic arthritis, may be a "front runner" for bowel disease patients, she said. Not all the treatments discussed are yet on the market.
Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) includes the diseases ulcerative colitis, an inflammation in the lining of the rectum and colon causing frequent emptying and diarrhea, as well as Crohn's disease, an inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract that most often affects the lower part of the small intestine. Swelling leads to pain and diarrhea. Irritable Bowel Syndrome is mainly a problem that affects the large intestine, leading to cramping, bloating, diarrhea and constipation.
In patients with arthritis as well as Crohn's disease, some similar inflammatory proteins are increased. This lead researchers to test arthritis medicines for these gastrointestinal tract diseases.
In Monday's session, researchers reported results of a series of studies.
Adalimumab (Humira) provided remission from Crohn's disease in patients with moderate to severe disease, said Dr. Jean-Frederic Colombel, the lead author of the study and a researcher at Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Lille, in France. In the study, which included 854 patients and continued for 56 weeks, 46 percent of those on the drug achieved remission, compared to just 17 percent on placebo.
Natalizumab (Tysabri), a drug approved for multiple sclerosis, was voluntarily taken off the market last year, when it was potentially linked to deadly brain infections called progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML). But it's expected back on the market, after the manufacturer submitted more data to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to prove safety, and an FDA advisory panel recommended reintroduction of the drug.
Dr. Stephan Targan is director of the inflammatory bowel disease center at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, and the lead author of a study of Tysabri treatment for more than 500 Crohn's disease patients. He reported that a higher proportion of patients in the Tysabri group responded to the therapy at weeks eight and 12 than those in a placebo group -- 48 percent vs. 32 percent, respectively. More than 25 percent of the Tysabri group had remission by weeks eight and 12, compared to 16 percent of those taking a placebo. The drug dampens the immune response that causes the inflammation characteristic of Crohn's disease.
Another study of Tysabri, which included 2,248 patients with either Crohn's disease, multiple sclerosis or rheumatoid arthritis, found the risk of developing the PML brain infection was very low, according to Dr. William Sandborn of the Mayo Clinic, who led the study. Before the voluntary recall of the drug, three patients were identified with the infection, and four more infections were initially reported in post-marketing reviews. Sandborn's analysis, in which his team checked spinal fluid and blood, found no additional cases among the patients studied, and the four post-marketing cases did not have the infection after all.
Another biologic treatment, which is called certolizumab pegol and is in phase III clinical trials, helped those with moderate to severe Crohn's disease. The 659 patients were assigned to the drug or placebo; at week four, 20 percent of those on the drug achieved remission and response, compared to 10 percent on a placebo.
Lubiprostone (Amitiza), approved in January 2006 by the FDA for chronic constipation, also helped patients with IBS, said Dr. John F. Johanson, lead study author and a researcher with Rockford Gastroenterology Associates, in Illinois. About 50 patients were assigned to each of four groups -- either a placebo or one of three drug doses. All those on the drug showed improvement, compared to those on a placebo, and those who took the highest dose improved the most.
Teduglutide is a naturally occurring hormone under study that governs the growth and maintenance of cells lining the gastrointestinal tract. Dr. Alan Buchman, a researcher at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine, led a study in which three different doses of the drug or a placebo were given to 100 people with Crohn's disease. Half of the drug-treated patients responded after two weeks, and more than one-third also achieved remission then, too. After eight weeks, 61 percent of the treatment group responded, and 56 percent also had remission.
http://www.forbes.com/forbeslife/health/feeds/hscout/2006/05/23/hscout532863.html
Vulcan, so sorry, I was kidding! I've never voted and what an idiot I am to read the boards as I'm watching something recorded...got really screwed up when doing this with Survivor last week!
I agree, Taylor wins...but will anyone posting here buy his album? I'm so ambivalent about this one, sort of like Diana DiGarmo and Fantasia, didn't really have an opinion either way.
You're right, she was awful...
Ok, did you not just read that I had it tivo'd and I'm delayed a little?!?! What are you trying to bias my vote?!?! :)